Railway-switch.



c. If. GERLINGEII I. H. HAIITwIG.

RAILWAY SW ITCH.

APPLICATION FILII MAY 3, I9I5.

Patented Aug. 31, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET I.

C. F. GERLINGER & H. HARTWIG.

RAILWAY SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 3.1915.

1,151,941. Patented Aug. 31, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

C. F. GERLINGER & H. HARTWIG.

RAILWAY SWITCH.

APPL|cAr|oN flLED MAY 3. 1915.

1,1 5 1 ,94 1 Patented Aug. 31, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

C. F. GERUNGER & H. HARTWIG.

RAILWAY SWITCH. v

APPLICATION man MAY 3, 1915.

Patented Aug 31, 19.15.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

60701913? 1 ,m fa. d. M

entren srarns rnrnnfr orrion.

CARL F. GER/LINGER, OF DALLAS, AND HEINRICH-HARTWIG, OF SALEM, REGOI\T.-

RAILWAY-SWITCH.

y Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Auw. 31, 1915.

Application filed May 3, 1915. Serial No. 25,488.

To all rw/tom it may concern, f

Be it known that we, CARL F. GERLINGER, a citizen of the United States, residing in Dallas, in the county of 4Polk and State of Oregon, and HEINRICH Hsnrwlro, a citizen of the United States, residing 1n Salem, in the county of Marion and State Aof Oregon, have jointly invented certain new and useful improvements in Railway-Switches, of which the following is a. specification.

This invention relates to railway switches of the classw iich are provided with mechanism whereby the switchmay be operated either by hand or automatically and our invention relates particularly to switches of this kind in which two switch points or rails are connected together for simultaneous adjustment to enable a train moving in one direction to continue on the main line, or a train moving in the same direction to pass from a siding to the main line, in either' 'case automatically and properly setting and locking the switch points, .such mechanism being also so constructed that a train moving in the opposite direction on the main line will continue on the main line unless the switch has been set and locked for the siding. The mechanism which we employ is so constructed and organized that the switch points are positively moved toward and from 'the rails and when the switch points are in intermediate position, e'. e., are neithervset for the main line'nor for the siding, the switchoperating mechanism is in such position that a train moving in either direction from` either the main line or the siding will automatically move the switch points in the propel' direction to cause the train either to continue on the main track `or to pass'to the siding according to the particularexisting conditions.

The mechanism which is directly operated by the wheels of the train comprises levers and rock shafts which are connected with novel mechanism in a switch stand, such mechanism comprising a lever which is pivoted within the casing of the switch-stand and is jointed to an arm projecting-from a hollow rock shaft or sleeve within which is a shaft fast with a disk carrying a pin engaging a recess in the end of the lever. Said disk is connected by a horizontally arranged y rod with the switch points and as the disk is turned the switch points are shifted. The disk is also provided with two pins, voneon each side of the pin iirst mentioned, and

these pins are so arranged that they cooperate with the lever in turning the disk back to the position from which it was moved. The first mentioned pin which engages the recess in the lever also cooperates with the leverto lock the latter and in turn be so operated as to place the switch points in any desired position. Said vlever is so mounted that when in its midway position it cannot 4be depressed or locked but it is free to move and thus permitsthe sleeve to be moved without obstruction, but when the lever is moved to its full extent in either direction it maybe lowered randlocked'in such manner as to prevent an unauthorized person from raising it to operative position.

Our invention will be hereinafter more fully explained and the details of construc-r` tion will be more particularly described. In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a main line and siding with our improved switch mechanism a`p= plied, the switch-stand being shown inheri- Fig. 2 is a detail view in zontal section. perspective showing particularly Athe switchstand and some of the lmechanism connecting the switch-stand mechanism with the switch-operating levers of the tracks. Fig. 3 is a detail view partly in side elevation and partly in section showing our safety device which is so constructed that should the switch points be improperly set for either the main line or the siding, that is, should they be in an intermediate position as shown' inl Fig. l, the switch-operating*mechanism will be automatically operated to properly set the points. Fig. 4 is al View similar 4to Fig. l showing themechanism shifted to connect the main line with the siding. Fig. 5 is a detail view mainly in vertical section of the switch boX and its mechanism. Fig.'

6 shows a section on the line 6 6 of Fig. 7. Fig. 7 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in section of the switch-stand and some of the rmechanism connected therewith. Fig. 7a is a detail view showing the operating lever in locked position.` Fig. 7b is a detail view in perspective kof parts of the switch stand. Fig. 8 is a detail view in perspective Vof the outside rail kof the siding showing the horizontally arranged lever associated therewith and which is `connected with the switch-operating mechanism. Fig. Qisa view similar toFig. 8 showing the connections between the lever of the main track and the switch-operating mechanism. Fig. l0` shows a transverse section on the linev lO-lO of Figl 8. Fig. 1l shows a transverse section on the linell-ll of Fig. 9;

, The rails of the main track are indicated at A, A', and the rails of vthe side track or siding areindicated at B, B. l

y @indicates a rock shaft below the rails y and provided with arms D, D projecting in the opposite directions as most clearly shown in Figs. 8 and 9. Said rock shaft is mounted to turn in` suitable supports or bracketsv I) clamped to the rails ri, B as best shown yin Figs. l0 and 11. The arm Dv extends forwardly from the rock shaft and isA pivotally connectedfwith an arm a" projecting downwardly from a lever E piv- `otedat e to theouter side ofthe rail A of the main line while the arm `D projects rearwardly. or to the right and is pivotally connected with an arm Z2 projecting downwardly from; a lever F pivoted at tothe track rail B of ther siding. It will be observedy that the levers E and F have por-V tions which are adapted to stand above the rails A, B" and they are also adapted'to receive the tread of the wheels of an engine, car or train traversing the track. lBoth thc levers E andF are shown slightly elevated abovegthe rails and when inthis position the arms a" and 7i of the rock shaft will occupy the j positions shown. At this time also the switch rails X, X arein the position vshown in Fig. l. Said switch rails,

it 4will be observed, are connected with each other by cross pieces so that they will move simultaneously and coincidently, being preferably pivoted at y, as indicated in Fig. 1.

The rock shaft @carries at one Aend an i upwardly projecting arniH which is jointed to a horizontally arranged rod I extending toran arm J' projecting upwardly from a horizontally arranged rock shaft K arranged at right angles tothe rod I. Said rock shaft is mounted in bearings in suitable supports c, 4the details of which unimportant. Said arm J is also connected by a horizontally arranged rod M with a lever N jointed at nA to a horizontally arranged lever O pivoted at 0 to one of the rails A'of the main track. Said lever` N projects downwardly from ythe horizontally arranged lever O and carries a roller a i adapted to ride on a cam surface P which hasa central raised y.portion p and on options p, p2. Nhen the lever O is raised and lowered a corresponding movement is given to the arm J and consequently to the rock shaft K, and it is also understood that as the levers E and F are raised and lowered the rock shaft Kis correspondingly turned; The rock shaft K carries an upwardly projecting arm Q which is connected by a rod g with a horizontally ai'- raiiged rocking lever R within the switch box S. This lever R is pivoted to a block R connected with the base of the switch box 'by screws 7' which pass through slots 7" in the block R, this means of attachment providing for a slight adjustment on the block R which maybe regulated by a set screw r2.

T indicates an arm jointed to the lever F at t secured by a set screw t or in any other suitable way made fast to a vertically arranged sleeve T which extends upwardly through the hollow column s of the switchstand, and U indicates a rod extendingy upwardly through the sleeve T and also downwardly through the sleeve into a socket in the base `of the Casing and it is made fast, as indicated at n, to a horizontally arranged disk V which carries on its upper side three pins, l, 2, and V3. rlhis disk is connected by means of a horizontally varranged rod lV to the switch points. rllhe middle. pin 2 of the disk is adapted to engage a recess w in thejend of the horizontally arranged lever R and it normally so engages said recess, while the pins l and 3 are Vnormally out of engagement with the lever. y'

nAssuming that the mechanism is in the condition shown in Fig. l, if the rock shaft C is operated to actuate through the mechanism before described the lever R and to turn it in either direction, it is obvious that the disk V will be turned. lf, for instance, the lever R is turned to the right the parts will be made to assume the position shown in Fig. 4, the disk having been moved to this position by the lever R, but it will be observed that the pin 2 has left the recess if; and now engages the end of the lever on the left hand side of said recess. When the parts are in this position the disk is locked in such manner that the switch points cannot be accidentally ino-ved by a force exerted on the switch points or rod If now the lever R be moved to the left from the position shown in Fig. i, it will strike thepin l and move the disk in the opposite direction and until the pin Q comes into the recess w. rIhe mechanism operates in the same way when the lever R is turned in the opposite direction to that shownv in Fig. 4, the pin 3 being then employed to resetk the' disk. The device shown at w is merely to indicate how the rod may be` Y transversely in the recess 24.

J'when the switch box is vset on the opposite at its upper endl a. horizontally projecting arm Z whichk is 4clamped to lthe sleeve by the devices shown and this arm carries an operating lever Z pivotally connected `to the arm at e. Thisleverywhen in an intermediate position, .is disposed horizontally, as indicated in Figs. 2, 6 and 7 being at that time supported on a flange 2 von the upper' surface ofthe head Z2 of the standard s beneath the arm Z. As shown the head Z2 is formed with a segmental recess and with grooves e2, z3 extending from the recess e on opposite sides of the flange e to the periphery ofthe head. Thelever Z, it will be observed, is formed with anose or projection rj which is adapted to move radially through the grooves z2, z3 and also VVhenthe lever Z is in an intermediate position .the nose or projection (7 assumes the position shown in Fig. 7 and rests on theflange 2"', but when the lever is moved either to the right or to the left to a certain extent the nose `zjcomes opposite one of the grooves a2, .a3 and when the lever is in this position it may be depressed in the manner indicated in Fig. 7a and the nose Q of the lever may then enter one of the grooves and passinto the recess et When in such position the lever' Z may be loweredand may be secured in any suitable way as by ay padlock P2 applied to-a perforatione5 in the lever. When thus locked the lever cannot be raised to operative position by an unauthorized person. But it will be observed that .at all timesthe mechanism in the switch stand is in such condition that the switch may be automatically shifted whatever be Vthe position of the leverZ.

The manner in which the mechanism op-v erates under various conditions has heretofore been referred to, and it will be understood that if the mechanism 1s inthe condition shown in Fig. l both the main trackand the siding are disconnected and there is danger of derailment.` If fa train approaches on the main track from right to left as *viewed in Fig. l, thelever E will be depressed. This would so vturn the rock shaft C as t0 push the rod I. and through the rock shaft K and the rod @will pull the lever R tothe left. rThrough the mechanism before described the rod W will be pulled toward the switchstand and will thus set the switch rails for the main track. the same time the rod M will be pushed to the left, as viewed in Fig. l, and will set the roller fn. in the vconcave p at which time the lever O will be below the level of the rail A and the train will proceed on the main track. In like manner, referring to Fig. l, if the mechanism is in the position there shown,

lever F will be depressed and the lever R in theswitch-stand will be moved to the right,

.inthe manner indicatedinFig. 4; This will move the rod lV toward the track and cause the switch rails to be shifted, in the manner indicated in Fig. 4, so as to so set theV switch that a train `can pass'fromthe siding to the main track. vWhen this takes place the rod M is pulled in such'manner as to set the roller a justs over the top of the projection p and in the concave p2 but if after the train has passed the switch rails be thenfentirely disconnected from the 'rails of the main track as indicated in Fig. l, the roller n will again pass over the projection to the position shown in dotted ylines in Fig. 3, so that when the lever O is next operated it willset the switch for the main track.

i It will ybe observed that when the lever R is shifted, in the manner indicated in Fig. 4L, from the position shown in Fig. l the disk B is moved by reason of the engagement of' the pinLQ in the` recess w. As the disk continues to rotate the pin 2 leaves the recess w and engages the outer end of the lever R and locks it sothat the switch points cannot be displaced accidentally. When the parts areinoved back to their original position the outer endV of the lever R strikes against the pin land moves the disk toward itsoriginal position and until the pin 2 enters the recess w; The pin 3 on the di'sk'performs a similar function in resetting the disk. It Vwill also be understood that the lever Z moves correspondingly with the arm T, being connected to move therewithy through the sleeve T, and it will also be understood that the lever Z may be made `to operate the switch'mechanism by hand, in substantiallythe same way that it is operated automatically.V

If the lever Z is left in a horizontal position or is not'properl'y locked it maybe displaced in such manner as to cause the switch points to,v separate from the rails or occupy a .position such as shown in Fig. l. If this were so, and a train were approaching the switch from left to right on the maintrack,`

rails ofthe main track as indicated in Fig. l.

and a trainapproaches on the side track the n The'roller n would then be raised to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 3' at the npper end of the concave 7) but not on top of the middle portion 7). At this time the lever 0 wouldfbe above the railand the wheels wouldfdepress this lever, causing the roller n to move farther down in the concave p. This would so move the switch mechanism in the manner before described as to properly setthe switch rails for themain track. It is therefore obvious that it is impossible for a train to pass the switch in. either direction without operatingk properly the mechanism to close the switch so that there is no danger of derailment, and the mechanism is also such that there is vno possibility of injury tothe outer ends of they switch rails or points as they .are always drawn close up against the rails when a train passes.

v ,We claim as our invention v 1. .A railway switch, comprising'a switchstand, mechanism within the switch-stand and connected with the kswitch rails for shifting them, a rock shaft associated with the tracks, levers operatively' connected with the rock shaft and adapted to be engaged by the wheels of thetrain, another rockshaft connected with that -rstmentioned, conmechanism connecting this lever with the leverfin the switch-stand, and connections betweenthe disk and the lever inthe switchstand for resetting the mechanism therein.

3. The combination with a switch-stand, of a lever pivotally mounted therein, a vertically arranged shaft mounted in the switch-stand, an arm secured thereto and jointed to the leverin the switch-stand, and a disk pivotally mounted within the switchstand and carrying a pin engaging said lever and carrying also other pins adapted to engage said lever for resetting the mechamsm.

4. The combination with a switch-stand,`

of a lever pivotally mounted therein, a sleeve mounted in the switch-stand, an arm attached thereto and jointed to said lever, a disk pivotally mounted within the switchy stand, switch rails connected with said disk,

means for moving the lever in the switchstand, a pin carried by the disk engaging ak recess in said lever and adapted also to engage the end of the vlever on opposite sides of said recess to lock the mechanism, and other pins carried by the disk which are engaged by said lever for the purpose of resetting the disk, substantially as described.

5. The combination with the rails, of a .mai-.,941

switch-stand,v a lever pivotally mounted therein, a rock shaft, connections between saidk rock shaft and said lever, another rock shaft associated with the track rails, connections between the two rock shafts, a lever associated with the track rails and operatively connected with one of said rock shafts, a disk pivotally mounted within the switch-stand and connected with the switch rails, and connections between the disk and the lever in the switch-stand whereby the turning ofthe lever causes corresponding movement to the disk and shifts the switch rails.

6.. rlhe combination of a switch-stand, a lever pivotally mounted therein, a disk pivotally mounted within the switch-stand and adapted to be connected with the switch rails, a sleeve mounted in the switch-stand, an armcarried by the sleeve and connected with. the lever in the switch-stand, a hand lever connected with said sleeve, and a support for said-hand vlever for holding it in horizontal position and which is recessed to allow the leverv to turn toa vertical locking position.

7 A. railway switch, comprising means for setting it to the main line for a train moving in one direction from either the main line or vthe siding, a lever on the main line operated by the wheels of the passing train, a roller suspended from said lever, a cam surface engaged by the roller, and a connectionbetween said roller and the switch-operating mechanism for closing the switch should itbey accidentally left in neutral position.

8. The combination with switchrails of mechanism for setting them for a train approachingthe switch in one direction from either the main line or the siding, a lever* CARL F. melaninons.Y HnINRioH HARTWIG.

Witnesses:

OSCAR HAYTER, E. K. PIAsEoKL Copies of this patent may be obtained for` ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

i Washington, D. C. A x Y 

